Fantastical vs In Your Face
We give Fantastical a 3.0 GPA and In Your Face a 2.8, out of 4.0. Fantastical grades higher on the free plan and features. In Your Face grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Fantastical
Calendar and tasks app for Apple devices, Windows and Googlebook
In Your Face
Full-screen meeting reminders for Mac, Windows, iPhone and iPad
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAFantasticalVery good | 2.8GPAIn Your FaceGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B$4.75 a month on yearly billing, with booking links and meeting polls thrown in. Fair. But Google's and Apple's calendars are free, so you have to want the extras. | B$24.99 a year, or $3.99 a month. That's low for this category, but it buys one job where rivals at that price are whole calendars, so call it fair. The $69 one-time license covers only the direct-download desktop version. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree with no end date: every view, typed-in events and your tasks. But it's 1 invitee per event and 1 calendar set, and the Apple Watch app needs Premium. | CNo free plan. The trial gives you a limited number of alerts, and when they're used up the app shows none until you subscribe or buy a license. The listing doesn't say whether the trial asks for a card. |
| Features | ATyped-in events, calendar sets, booking links, meeting polls, a Join button for video calls and a 10-day forecast. About as much calendar as you can get. | BOne job, done fully: full-screen alerts, a join button for more than 60 video call services, calendar filters, per-event settings and a pause while you share your screen. It can't read calendars held in Outlook, Fantastical or BusyCal, though. |
| Ease of use | BTyping an event in is as quick as it gets. Its guesses do catch people out now and then, and 4.2 from about 24,500 App Store ratings trails Google Calendar's 4.5. | BInstall it, point it at your calendars and it alerts you a minute before each event by default. We have no App Store rating on record to show how people get on with it, so it stops at a B. |
| Platforms and integrations | CMac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro, plus Googlebook since October. No Android phone app though (Flexibits says 2027), and no web version. | BMac, Windows, iPhone and iPad, with alerts on Apple Watch, and it connects straight to Google and Microsoft accounts. No Android or web version is listed, and the iPhone and iPad app needs iOS 26 or later. |
| Best for | juggling several calendars on a Mac and iPhone | meeting reminders you can't miss |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Fantastical and In Your Face. How we grade
Where they differ
- Fantastical starts at $4.75 per month, billed annually ($6.99 billed monthly). In Your Face starts at $3.99 per month, or $24.99 per year.
- Fantastical has a free plan. In Your Face does not, though it has a free trial.
- In Your Face can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Fantastical also covers templates, tasks, natural-language input and booking links.
- In Your Face also covers menu bar app.
At a glance
| Fantastical | In Your Face | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $4.75 per month, billed annually ($6.99 billed monthly) | $3.99 per month, or $24.99 per year |
| Free plan | Add accounts, events and tasks, with day-to-year views and home screen widgets. Limited to 1 calendar set, 1 invitee per event and a 3-day weather forecast. | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of Flexibits Premium | Free trial with a limited number of alerts; when they are used up, the app stops showing alerts |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Made by | Flexibits Inc. | Blue Banana Software |
| Price read from | flexibits.com | inyourface.app |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Fantastical
- People with Google, iCloud and Microsoft calendars who want them in one app
- Adding events quickly by typing a sentence
- Households sharing one subscription across up to 5 members
In Your Face
- People who miss meetings because banner notifications are easy to ignore
- Remote workers who want to join a video call straight from the reminder
- People with ADHD, hyperfocus or time blindness, the audience the developer names
Worth knowing
Fantastical
- No web version, and the Googlebook app launched in October 2026 does not run on Android phones or tablets; Flexibits says Android support is coming in 2027.
- The free version allows 1 invitee per event, 1 calendar set and a 3-day weather forecast.
- Apple Watch support, push sync, travel time, templates and conference-call detection all need Flexibits Premium.
- Single sign-on and Openings with multiple hosts are limited to the Team plan.
In Your Face
- There is no free plan: once the trial's free alerts are used, the app shows no alerts until you subscribe or buy a license.
- On Mac, website license keys work only with the direct-download version; App Store versions use Apple's in-app purchases.
- It cannot read calendars held in Microsoft Outlook, Fantastical or BusyCal; Google and Microsoft accounts are connected directly instead.
- The site lists Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch only, and the iPhone and iPad app requires iOS 26 or later.
Key features
Fantastical
- Natural-language event entry
- Create events and tasks by typing a plain-language sentence instead of filling in a form field by field.
- Day, week, month, quarter and year views
- Full-screen views at every scale plus the DayTicker strip, all included in the free version.
- Tasks next to events
- Tasks from iCloud Reminders, Todoist and Google Tasks appear alongside calendar events on both free and paid tiers.
- Openings and Proposals
- Premium adds Openings, which let others book a slot from your availability, and Proposals, which poll invitees on meeting times.
- Conference call detection
- Premium detects Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Webex links in events and adds a single-click Join button.
- Calendar sets
- Group calendars into sets. Free allows 1 set; Premium allows unlimited sets, syncs them and can switch sets automatically by time or location.
In Your Face
- Full-screen alerts
- An alert takes over the screen before each event, one minute ahead by default or at a time you set. Alerts can also adjust for travel time when the event includes it.
- Join calls from the alert
- The app detects video conference links in calendar events for more than 60 services, including Zoom, Teams and Meet, and opens the call from the alert or the event list.
- Calendar accounts and filters
- On Mac and Windows it connects directly to Google and Microsoft accounts; on Apple devices it also uses the calendars in Apple Calendar. Filters limit alerts to the calendars and events you choose.
- Custom reminders
- Set a reminder for something that has no calendar event, and get the same full-screen alert for time-critical Apple Reminders.
- Per-event settings, pausing and themes
- Override the default alert for an individual event, pause alerts while sharing your screen, pick alert sounds and change how alerts look with themes.
- Menu bar, widgets and Apple Watch
- The Mac app lives in the menu bar with upcoming events and has desktop widgets, the Windows app sits in the tray, and the iPhone app can send alerts to an Apple Watch.
Plans
Fantastical
Free$0
Basic calendar and tasks with full-screen views; 1 calendar set, 1 invitee per event and a 3-day forecast.
Individual$4.75
per month, billed annually ($6.99 billed monthly)
All Premium features for one person, including Openings, Proposals, call detection and Apple Watch support.
Family$7.50
per month, billed annually ($10.49 billed monthly)
Flexibits Premium shared by up to 5 family members.
Team$4.75
per user / month, billed annually ($6.99 billed monthly)
Premium for each member, plus single sign-on, team roles and Openings with multiple hosts.
In Your Face
Monthly Subscription$3.99
per month
Unlimited full-screen reminders across Mac, Windows, iPhone and iPad, bought on the website or in the App Store.
Yearly Subscription$24.99
per year
The same access billed once a year. The pricing page labels it the best value.
One-time License$69
one-time purchase
A perpetual license for the direct-download desktop version, including bug fixes and small feature updates.
EnterpriseCustom
Volume licensing, arranged by contacting the developer.
Ways to pay less
Fantastical
- Annual discount
About 32% less with yearly billing
Flexibits' pricing page lists the Individual plan at $4.75 a month billed annually, against $6.99 billed monthly, which works out about 32% lower.
- Education
Educational and military discount
Flexibits says it offers an educational or military discount on request. Contact the company with proof of your institution, student status or military service.
- Other savings
Family plan for up to 5 members
The Family plan shares Flexibits Premium among up to 5 members at a reduced price compared with separate Individual subscriptions.
In Your Face
- Annual discount
Yearly subscription costs about 48% less
The pricing page lists $24.99 per year against $3.99 per month, which is $47.88 over twelve months. It labels the yearly subscription the best value.
- Lifetime license
$69 one-time license
A perpetual license for the direct-download desktop version costs $69 once. The pricing FAQ says it includes bug fixes and small feature updates, with any major new version an optional paid upgrade.
